Welcome to another installment of our monthly local music feature, New Music NC!
Each month highlights some of our particular favorites, followed by several categories to sift through. Think of it as your virtual record store, except all the music is new and local!
[Pst! Get included in a future issue!]
Top Selections
Baby Grand — Check’er Lee [Henderson folk-adjacent]
Excuse me as I step across our northern state line to highlight this new record for the Virginian folk siblings Haley and Colby Ellis of Baby Grand. This is a stuffed batch of bluegrassy country jams, led by Haley’s banjo and wry vocals. Colby brings a wealth of instrumental support beyond his vocal harmonies, from that old-timey saloon piano to lapsteel. It’s an album that captures a warm summer’s day in a 39-minute listen, which is perfect in the cold doldrums of December.
Top Tracks: “Thank God for Keepin’ Me Sane”, “Lower Management”, “The Fisherman’s Wife”
bedrumor — almost normal ep [Greensboro indie rock]
Y’all, I love this EP. Lazuli Ortiz has such an ethereal voice and her vocal melodies feel legitimately hypnotizing. She brings an alt-pop sensibility to such solid shoegazey grooves, to a point where you never quite know where she’s progressing towards – but it always feels just right. Give it a listen and look out for them the next time they’re in your town.
Top Tracks: “same old stare”, “charm/chore”, “moon and i”
FIND OUT — Tools of War II: Revolt & Rise [Durham hardcore punk]
What better way to round out a busy year of music than with some aggressive hardcore punk? FIND OUT make me want to start a mosh pit in my living room before I ever let some stupid last-stage capitalist hellscape get me down. They’re also not afraid to genre-bend, as evidenced by the fantastic guest interlude from CUBANITO. If this is a hint at a future North Durham sound, sign me the fuck up.
Top Tracks: “IN NEED”, “BLEEDING BADGE”, “LOCKUP LANDLORDS”
Monthly Round-up
Rock, alternative, and punk
applefield – where are you going? [Durham shoegaze]
Charlie Barefoot – On Stage [Beulaville surf rock]
Hairy-Legged Women – Hairy-Legged Women [Saxapahaw indie rock/folk]
Maladaptive Daydream – Arial Serenity [Monroe shoegaze]
Spit Curls – Cowboy Songs [Charlotte indie rock/power pop]
The Discs – Drastic Fantastic [Asheville power pop/new wave]
Why, Why? – Why, Why? [Asheville surf rock]
Folk, Americana, and country
Kit McKay – Kit McKay [Raleigh honky tonk/folk]
L.D. – Birds [Asheville alternative folk]
No Trick Pony – Angels, Bastards, Devils, and Ghosts [Sylva southern rock/Americana]
Pat Van Buren, m.b. mulkey, & Paul Petrol – Paul Van Mulkey [Raleigh folk punk]
Strange Halos – Strange Halos [Asheville alt country/psych folk]
The Carolina Junebugs – Down in the Valley [Chapel Hill folk/Americana]
Upper Twin – Trying To [NC indie folk]
Metal and hardcore
Age Of Light – MY SISTER’S CRIES [Wilmington black metal]
Free Will Agonist – Lifus Exitus [Raleigh post-metal]
Get Wise – Stand Strong! [NC straight edge hardcore]
mean habit – EP [Carrboro riot grrrl/hardcore punk]
The Lost View – Wirewood EP [Raleigh screamo/emoviolence]
Electronic, ambient, experimental, and more
Adam Pohl – Everywhere, Blue [Asheville jazz fusion]
Annoy Bazruzzaman – BEFORE NOON [Durham chillhop]
cschweppe – names [NC drum and bass]
Hyperbolic Club – THE PRICE OF SILENCE [Raleigh jazz fusion/funk]
Hip-hop/rap, soul, jazz, and funk
DeMarcus Quinn – Underdog Story [Dudley hip-hop/rap]
Kunai Chrome – Soft Grit [Charlotte R&B]
Ready to get featured in our monthly roundup for new music from NC artists? Fill out this short form and we’ll include your latest release in a future issue!
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